The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s6.35

c14.s6.35

None the less prominent in Bengali and other Indian poetry is the deification or extollation of the female element. If Rādhā is a sweet-heart and a darling, Kālī, Chaṇḍī, Ambikā, Annadā, Bhavānī, etc. is the inspirer of a Perseus the Deliverer, of an Andreas Hofer, so to say, e.g., of a Pratāpāditya of Bengal or of a Śivāji the Maratha. If Rādhā enlivens maidenhood and young age, Sītā and Sāvitrī are the idols of the *Hausfrau's* daily life. The female sex as the embodiment of *śakti* or energy has been really accorded the highest and most comprehensive place in Bengali societal polity.